A Hundred Stories
by Gravity-Chan
Summary: A collection of one hundred One-Shots exploring different scenarios. Rated T to be safe. 4) Natsu faces off against the new girl. High school karate AU.
1. Injury

**Hello, everyone! So, my friend challenged me to do this 100 One-Shot Challenge for Fairy Tail, and I figured "Why not?" So this is where my finished works will go! They'll all be short, either one-shots or drabbles about Fairy Tail, but I hope you enjoy them anyone. I'll include a short description with each one-shot along with the prompt for each. Enjoy, and be sure to leave a review to let me know what you think! c:**

**Prompt #1: Injury**

**Summary: Natsu and Lucy have had a long day, but a bedtime story makes it all better.**

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><p>It had been a long time since Natsu had felt this sore and worn out. He had spent the first two hours of his day running around his house, the next five in the guild fighting with his guildmates, and then another three hours of running around Magnolia, adding up to about nine hours of non-stop exercise. It didn't help that he didn't even get a rest when he finally returned to his home that night. No, he was on parent duty that night, and Lucy would have none of his whining.<p>

"But Luuuucy! My feet are killing me!" he complained when he finally returned home, his daughter Nashi thrown over one shoulder, screaming and laughing, after having chased the energetic little girl all over town. "Juvia got distracted when she was watching Nashi and she took off. I had to chase her all over Magnolia!"

Lucy looked just as worn as Natsu did, cradling a sleeping infant in her arms. "My day hasn't exactly been a piece of cake either!" she snapped. "Layla's been crying all day. The poor thing was simply unconsolable." She settled herself down into a chair with a tired sigh. "I didn't know balancing two kids would be this hard."

"Daddy! I wanna go higher!" Nashi squealed. The three-year-old had seemingly never-ending energy, even compared to her spastic father, and it was starting to wear on Natsu's last shreds of energy. He sighed, setting Nashi on the floor. "I think it's quiet time," he said, ignoring his daughter's disappointed protests. "Can you be a good girl and go put on your PJ's? Then daddy will come up and read you a story," he offered.

This negotiation seemed to pacify the easygoing girl, who promptly raced to the stairs and clambered noisily upstairs and into her bedroom.

"Alright, let me see her," Natsu said, approaching Lucy and relieving her of the little bundle she was holding. Natsu smiled at his daughter's sleeping face; Layla looked so much like the woman she was named after, who of course passed down her looks to her own daughter. "You've got dominant traits," he commented, running a hand over Layla's blonde peach fuzz with a grin.

Lucy rolled her eyes, pushing herself to her feet. "Will you go put Layla in her crib? I'll go make sure Nashi is ready for bed."

Natsu nodded agreement and headed up the stairs alongside his wife, heading into their bedroom where Layla's crib was set up. He carefully laid the four-month-old in her crib and tugged a blanket over her, smiling. Looking at her sleeping face now, Natsu could almost forget what a ton of trouble children were.

Well, he loved all of his girls anyway. Heading back to Nashi's room, he saw that the little girl was already tucked into bed, and Lucy held a storybook in her hand. "There's daddy!" she said with a smile as Natsu approached her. "She wouldn't let me read it for her. She insists that you're better at this than I am," she added with a laugh.

Natsu chuckled a bit himself, sitting at the foot of the bed and accepting the book. "Cinderella?" he said, reading the title on the front of the book. "We read this one last night, didn't we?"

"I wanna hear it again!" Nashi insisted, snuggling deeper into her blankets.

Natsu glanced at Lucy accusingly, as if to say, _I blame you for her love of Fairy Tales_, but opened the book to the first page anyway. As he did, the page caught the skin of his finger, slicing his skin. "Ow!" he exclaimed, dropping the book into his lap and sticking his injured thumb into his mouth. "Stupid book, giving me papercuts…"

Lucy stood up immediately. "Oh, I'm sure there are band-aids around here somewhere," she said, digging around in the drawers in the room.

"Don't worry about it, Luce," Natsu assured. "It's just a papercut. It'll be fine in a few minutes."

"You should still put something on it. You don't want it to get infected," Lucy insisted, making a noise of triumph when she finally found the box and pulled it out.

Natsu cast a glance at Nashi, still huddled under the covers of her bed. The girl had a serious expression on her face as she watched her father. "Daddy needs a band-aid," she said matter-of-factly.

"Can't argue with that, can you?" Lucy laughed, taking Natsu's hand and unwrapping a bandage. "I can do it myself," Natsu pointed out, but Lucy just shrugged as she wrapped the bandage around her husband's thumb. "There. All better," she said with a smile.

"Story! Story!" Nashi cheered, her eyes bright in anticipation.

Natsu laughed, opening up the book again. This time he was careful of the sharp edges of the pages. "Once upon a time…"


	2. Sinking

**Some cute Gajevy for my homies out there x3 Have fun reading this little one-shot/drabble thingie. I already have plans for the third prompt. Be sure to leave a review if you enjoyed this! They're what help me get motivated. I thought up this prompt while contemplating Gajeel's character development (I was bored, okay? It helps a writer to think about what their characters are like.) Anyway, hope you enjoy!**

**Prompt #2: Sinking**

**Summary: Gajeel has a minor fear of Levy...**

**Guest: Thanks! I hope you do stick around x3**

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><p>"…Gajeel, are you even listening to me?!"<p>

Said Dragon Slayer blinked, as is snapping out of a daze, his misty eyes focusing on the woman in front of him. Levy was glaring at him, her arms crossed under her chest. "Eh? Say that again?" He answered carelessly, frowning.

Levy scoffed at Gajeel, pouting angrily at him. "You were spacing out again! Geez, what's wrong with you today?" she accused, taking a sip of her coffee in an attempt to dull her irritation. "I asked you how Wendy's training was going? I heard you and Natsu have been working with her."

Gajeel shrugged disinterestedly, leaning back in his chair and clasping his hands behind his head. "Squirt's got potential," he admitted. "There's only so much we can do, though. I don't know jack shit about sky magic."

"Well then, maybe you'll learn something new, too," Levy said with a slightly smug smile. "It's about time you reached out of your little box for once."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Gajeel grumbled with a scowl.

Levy snorted, a hint of amusement in her brown eyes. "It means you never do anything fun!" she answered. "All you do is sit around and brood all day and scare away all the new recruits. Would it kill you to go socialize?"

It was true that Gajeel like to sit by himself in the corner of the guild with Pantherlily, but that was because the other members of this guild got on his nerves and made him want to punch somebody. "I talk to Rain Woman," he pointed out. "And Pantherlily, and I talk to you."

Was that a blush he spotted? Gajeel allowed himself a little victory smirk; while he enjoyed being by himself, where it was quiet and peaceful, it was more fun to see his Shrimp flustered like this. Levy was so innocent, too. It wasn't hard to make her blush. "Yeah, but most of our conversations happen because I come to keep you company in your dark, depressing corner. I mean, look at Natsu chatting with Lucy and Cana! How come you never do stuff like that?"

"Because I'm not an idiot like Salamander," Gajeel replied harshly. "Besides, it's not my thing. I'm much more comfortable back here with you and Pantherlily."

Levy grinned at him slightly, a teasing glint in her eyes. "So, you've finally accepted me, eh?" she teased, leaning her elbows on the table while keeping hold of her drink.

Gajeel hated it, but he couldn't help but feel a bit flustered at the comment. "Yeah, sure. Whatever you say, Shrimp," he brushed off, glancing away from Levy and running a hand through his hair. It was an action that Levy had quickly picked up on that showed he was embarrassed. She covered her mouth with one hand to hide her smile, taking another sip of coffee.

It was nearly a minute later that Gajeel finally risked a glance at Levy. She had a serene smile on her face, watching the guild as they interacted with each other. It was odd, but he did accept Levy. It was more than that, though. She was… his friend. And she accepted him back, which was the thing that really made him wonder what she was thinking. He never would have expected the woman to whom he had caused so much pain would forgive him so easily, that she would worm her way this close to him. It was a place not even Juvia had gotten to in the years they had known each other in Phantom Lord.

If he was to be completely honest, it scared Gajeel that Levy could break down his walls so easily. It was like he was sinking, deeper and deeper, into a place where he wasn't sure he could survive. That maybe if he stopped fighting, he would drown.

"You're spacing out again." Levy interrupted Gajeel's train of thought, glancing up at him in mild concern. "Did you get enough sleep last night? You have a weird look on your face."

Gajeel shook his head. "Nah, I'm alright. Just thinking, I guess," he answered.

Maybe drowning wouldn't be so bad.


	3. Father

**Here's a long chapter for all of you friends out there who had their hearts destroyed by the recent chapter of Fairy Tail. WARNING: THERE ARE MAJOR SPOILERS FOR CHAPTER 414 IN THIS ONE-SHOT! READ AT YOUR OWN RISK! With that disclaimer out of the way, enjoy this incredibly sad and heart-breaking chapter. It fit my recent theme, so I couldn't help myself.**

**Prompt #3: Father**

**Summary: Natsu grieves the loss of his father.**

**Thoringsonofthrain: Thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying these little drabbles of mine c:**

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><p><em>"IGNEEL!"<em>

Natsu couldn't believe what he was seeing. His father, the one he had been searching for the last seven years of his life, the one he had just discovered was hibernating inside of him, keeping him from turning into a dragon like Acnologia, the one who had taken the place of his father and taught him magic. And there he was, still hovering in the sky, as if falling in slow motion, with a massive hole in his side.

Natsu could feel his heart pounding, threatening to burst out of his ribcage. His mind was still processing the image in front of him. Acnologia's victorious roar made his ears ring with its intensity, and the back of his eyes stung from staring far too long.

Igneel's body fell to the ground with a bang that shook the earth. All around him, the vengeful cries of the other four dragons sounded, promising revenge on the one that killed their friend. Grandine, Metalicana, Weisslogia and Skiadrum took off after Acnologia's retreating form, disappearing into the clouds above, but their roars and battle cries could still be heard clearly from the ground.

Natsu snapped. Tears came to his eyes, spilling onto his cheeks, and he broke into a sprint, screaming Igneel's name as he approached the unmoving form of his father.

Collapsing onto his knees as Igneel's side, Natsu laid a hand on the massive dragon's scales and promptly snatched his hand back. The scales, which would usually have been warm, were ice-cold to the touch. The realization sent a shiver of dread through Natsu's body, and he scrambled to Igneel's head, choking on his own breaths.

"Igneel, please! Say something, anything!" Natsu begged, but the dragon had long since ceased breathing, his heart stilled. Natsu choked, tears falling freely from his eyes, and he completely collapsed onto Igneel's head, his fingers digging into the dragon's ice-cold scales.

There was no doubt about it, Igneel was dead.

Behind him, figures appeared out of the dusty cloud that had risen around the area. Lucy gasped when she spotted Igneel lying motionless on the rocky ground, her hands flying to her mouth as tears pricked her eyes. Behind her, Gray hesitated to approach his grieving rival, and look of empathetic sorrow on his face. Natsu hadn't been the only one to lose a parent in this fight.

Lucy took a few steps forward until she was close enough to Natsu that she could almost reach out and touch him. There, she hesitated, unsure of how to proceed. She wanted so badly to comfort her best friend, but in the end she didn't know how. "Natsu…" she whispered.

Slowly, almost sluggishly, Natsu drew himself up from where he lay, his hands clenched into fists. He directed his gaze towards the sky, where the cries of dragons fighting could still be heard fighting. "Acnologia," he growled with an emotion Lucy had never heard him use before. The malice, the bloodlust, the utter hatred in his words made Lucy's blood run cold, a shiver running up her spine. "He killed Igneel. He killed my father! I'll make him pay!"

Natsu's entire body tensed, and Lucy let out a gasp, taking those few rushed steps forward and closing the distance between them before Natsu could make a move. She wrapped her arms tightly around his middle, her small body shaking. "Please, don't go," she sobbed into his jacket, burying her face into the space between his shoulderblades. "You can't fight Acnologia. If you died… I don't know what I would do!"

Lucy's words seemed to strike something in Natsu's mind, because he began to relax, slowly, the anger draining from his fingertips. He slumped forward a bit, raising one hand to his face, which contorted in the pain of seeing his father die. "It hurts," he whimpered, falling to his knees and letting his head drop into his hands. Lucy went down with him, her arms remaining firmly locked around his middle. "It hurts so much…!"

"I know," Lucy whispered, loosening her grip on her friend but not releasing her hold on him. "I know it hurts, and I know it's painful to hear, but right now there's nothing you can do."

Natsu gritted his teeth, slapping his hands against the ground helplessly. "Useless!" he cursed. "Every time I'm really needed, all I can do is stand back and watch! This happened on Tenroujima too! I wasn't strong enough to kill Acnologia back then, either! If I could just be stronger, if I had done something more… Igneel might still be alive!"

"Please stop," Lucy begged, but Natsu ignored her, tears wetting the ground in front of him.

"If Mavis hadn't rescued us from Acnologia we would all be dead!" he continued, curling his fingers into the ground. "Every time, there's something I could do, but it's like I can't function!" He paused, sniffing, his body shaking. "After the Grand Magic Games, when Future Rogue tried to kill you… I couldn't do anything there, either. You could have died, Lucy! You _did_ die! And I couldn't do anything about it. Because I wasn't strong enough…"

"You can't save everyone, Natsu," Gray said solemnly, laying a hand on Natsu's shoulder. Lucy glanced up and met his gaze; his eyes held a deep sadness in them that made Lucy's heart clench painfully. "I know that too well. Sometimes you're going to face things that you can't control, but if you try to get revenge, you're only going to end up putting others in danger."

Gray had experience in this field. Because of his stupid actions of revenge, his teacher and mother figure died. And he knew it was his fault. Swallowing, Gray continued, "Everyone here has lost someone they care about, and some people carry the burden of knowing they were the ones who caused it. But those are different cases. It isn't your fault that Igneel died, and rushing into a fight blindly isn't going to solve anything. I don't think igneel would have wanted you to go and get yourself killed."

Natsu rubbed at his eyes with one arm, though it did nothing to stave off his emotions. "I've always been able to solve my problems by defeating them," he murmured.

"Please, don't do this," Lucy repeated. "_Please._ You have people here that care about you. Igneel spent fourteen years inside of you, protecting you from becoming a monster like Acnologia. He did it all to protect you… if you kill yourself now, then what were those fourteen years for?!"

Natsu tensed, his eyes widening. Lucy was right, and he knew it, but the truth was an extremely difficult thing for him to accept. To leave Igneel behind, to do nothing after watching his father murdered, letting a monster like Acnologia run rampant, it made him sick to think of doing something like that. "How many more lives would be lost if we let that monster free?" he insisted. "He'll kill… kill everyone… everything important to me… and then what would I be? Just a weakling who couldn't even save his own father!"

"So shut your mouth and become stronger!" Gray snapped, surprising both his rival and the Celestial Mage attached to him. Natsu turned to stare up at the black-haired man in shock. Gray clenched his teeth, meeting Natsu's gaze with a cold one of his own. "If you want to protect what's important to you, then you need to become strong. Take a step back and live to fight another day, because that's the way you can truly make a difference."

"It's okay to grieve," Lucy added softly. "The pain of losing a loved one is something you have to carry with you for the rest of your life. But the only way to ease the burden is to accept what's real and what's a daydream, and make your own path." She tugged softly on Natsu's arm, pulling him around to face her. "Igneel may be gone, but you have us. You have all of Fairy Tail. We're here for you."

Natsu let his face drop into his hands once more, his body shaking with sobs. Lucy choked at seeing Natsu in such a vulnerable state, and she leaned forward, enveloping him in a tight hug. "It'll be okay, I promise," she whispered. "And a Celestial Mage never breaks a promise."


	4. Exploit

**Hey everyone! I know it's been a while since I updated, and I apologize! I write these when I get inspiration, not on a weekly basis like my bigger projects. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

**Prompt #4: Exploit**

**Summary: Natsu faces off against the new girl. High school karate AU.**

**Saralei Nighthaven: Thank you! x3 you're sweet!**

**Silver Wolf-7: Thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying these little one-shots so much!**

**Thoringsonofthrain: You're very welcome! I always like to thank my reviewers because that's what keeps me motivated to keep writing!**

**Kitakana: Thanks! x3 In all honesty, I was hoping we'd see a little bit of depressed Natsu, but apparently not. /shrug/**

**Guest: I'm glad you enjoyed it, although I'm sure I wasn't the first haha :) Thanks for reviewing!**

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><p>It had been a while since Natsu had faced someone like this.<p>

Being one of the strongest members of his team, he hadn't expected to find himself backed into a corner like this. Especially by a newbie. Especially by a _girl._

Natsu grunted as he lifted his arms up to block a kick aimed at his face. Its force was perfectly centered to her heel, her balance on point. She must have had a really good teacher for her to make him work this hard.

"Come on, Natsu! Don't let her one-up you!" Gray yelled from the sidelines, making Natsu scowl. He may love his teammate like a brother, but he was quite annoying, trying to tell him what to do when he knew he was outmatched by the pinkette.

"Shut up, Fullbuster! I know what I'm doing!" Natsu growled back, sidestepping another of the blond girl's powerful kicks and grabbing her wrist, knocking her feet out from under he with one of his. Except that as he let go of her wrist, her hand wrapped around his own, dragging him down with her.

He could hear Gajeel's irritating laughter from here, and he quickly recovered himself, rolling as he fell and using the momentum to gain his footing once more. The girl was quick to follow, dealing out a series of well-aimed blows and driving him towards the opposite wall, her yells echoing in the open space.

"Why so defensive?" the girl taunted, pausing in her attacks momentarily. "I've had you on the defense the whole time. Aren't you going to attack?" She raised an eyebrow at him coyly, eyes sparkling with the challenge.

Natsu scoffed at this. Was she trying to play him for a fool? "I don't like the idea of hitting a girl," he responded, moving his left foot back for better balance. "You're better than I expected, though. What school did you say you transferred from?"

The girl sighed, as if irritated she was repeated information. "Fiore Private Academy," she answered. "Enough questions, though. I want to finish this spar."

Natsu grinned a bit at her attitude; she had quite the arrogant demeanor. "Guess it's time I got serious, then," he agreed. He took the first step forward the girl, closing the gap between them, and let out a powerful yell, thrusting his palm forward and striking her in her collarbone. It was a move he had used often, an effective one, and that didn't change this time as the girl stumbled back with a gasp of surprise, momentarily stunned. His grin widened at this victory, and as she stumbled back, he repeated his move from earlier, grabbing her wrist and kicking her feet from under her, pinning her arm to the ground as he leaned over her, his other hand raised to strike.

A whistle blew, and Erza stepped onto the mat. "That's the match," she announced with a smile, laying a hand on Natsu's shoulder. "Well done, Natsu. As expected from one of our best." She leaned over and offered a hand to the new girl, helping her to her feet. "And you as well. It's not often we get to see Natsu backed into a corner like that.

"I was going easy on her!" Natsu insisted, but this only earned a series of snickers from the stands where the rest of the Magnolia East High Karate Club was watching. He shot his friends a warning glare.

"Of course you did," Erza brushed off, much to Natsu annoyance. She returned her attention to the blonde, offering her a friendly smile. "Still, that was well done. I think you'll make a great addition to the team. We could use another girl to even the score. What did you say your name was?"

The girl smiled, a real smile that was all white teeth and pink lips, and Natsu couldn't help but notice how pretty she looked when she smiled. "My name is Lucy."


End file.
